


When I Looked Back, I Was Found

by Dragon_and_Direwolf, TheScarletGarden



Series: Drabbles & Short Stories [13]
Category: A Song of Ice and Fire & Related Fandoms, A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Drabble, F/M, Illustrated, Jonerys, Original Artwork, Targaryen Restoration, Wishful ending, fuck D&D to all seven hells, my King and Queen this day and until the day I die
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-30
Updated: 2019-07-30
Packaged: 2020-07-27 07:30:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,636
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20042221
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dragon_and_Direwolf/pseuds/Dragon_and_Direwolf, https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheScarletGarden/pseuds/TheScarletGarden
Summary: She did not blink as she watched the rivulets of molten iron drip down the dais. As she stood too close to Drogon's fire, she did not even twitch.Jon had never been more proud of her.A wishful ending with original artwork by the talented Dragon_and_Direwolf.





	When I Looked Back, I Was Found

**Author's Note:**

> Writing by TheScarletGarden. All the stunning art was made by Dragon_and_Direwolf. You can find more of her awesomeness on her [Tumblr](https://dragonanddirewolf.tumblr.com/).
> 
> Betaed by LustOnMyFingers. ❤️

She did not blink as she watched the rivulets of molten iron drip down the dais. As she stood too close to Drogon's fire, she did not even twitch.

Jon had never been more proud of her.

* * *

A light knock sounded at the door.

"Enter," Dany called. Her breath caught in her throat when Jon stepped in, clad in his ceremonial clothes, handsome and regal and entirely too enticing. With a nod, she dismissed Missandei from the room, only speaking when the soft click of the door left the two of them alone.

"You make for quite a fetching sight."

Jon scoffed, shifting on his legs and assuming that self-deprecating smile of his. She promised to herself that she would take that out of him, sooner or later. How could he not see how bright he shone?

"I look like an idiot," he muttered, smoothing a hand over the three-headed dragon embroidered in red silk over his jerkin.

"I dare to disagree," she husked, stepping closer to him to take a taste of his lips. "You look like a King."

_The King I choose. The King you were always destined to be._

He hummed under the soft touch of her mouth against his, strong hands coming around her waist to flush her closer to him. "How come I only feel like one when you're in my arms?" he murmured.

For all the times he had claimed not to be a bloody poet, Jon sometimes surprised her with the sweetest words that had ever graced her ears.

For a brief moment, she just closed her eyes, smelling the comforting scent of him to calm the turmoil in her heart. She had to tear back before she succumbed to his touch, though, the time not enough, the crowd already gathered and expecting.

"You alright?" he asked in a whisper, those blessed hands fluttering lightly over her cheeks, knuckles grazing her skin softly.

She nodded, before confessing in a whisper, "I'm just tense, I suppose."

Dany shuffled away from him, casting her gaze outside the window instead. "How much has this city, no, this _country,_ bled so that I could melt that ugly thing? Is the wheel broken just because I sit on a different throne?"

Jon walked quietly to her, wrapping his arms around her waist from behind and placing a kiss on her head. "Who else, Dany? Who else but the Queen that saved them all to right the wrongs of the Crown?"

"I haven't saved them all by myself," she scoffed, casting him a telling glance.

"And you won't rule alone, either." He turned her in his arms, taking her hands in his own. "I know you will do your best to build a better world, Dany. It's what you've done your entire life."

"I made so many mistakes, though, Jon. Mistakes that my people have often paid with their life."

"And still, they cheer you as the liberator you are when they see you walk the streets. I have made mistakes as well, Dany, will make them still, because we're nought but humans. But I know, deep in my bones, that no one deserves the crown more than you do, for your heart has always been in the right place, and you have a brilliant mind to accompany it."

"I will have you by my side," she reminded him, her voice soft.

"Always," he promised.

"Will you help me with my cloak?" she asked, finally gifting him with the sight of a hopeful smile.

"Of course."

He took the garment from the chest it was sprawled on, letting the scaled crimson silk slide against his rough hands. Dany turned her back to him, standing still as he clipped the cloak to the silver dragons attached to her shoulders, smoothing down the fabric until it fell perfectly down her back. Her dress was a cascade of silk as well, although it was black as the midnight sky.

Tonight, the entire Red Keep would be filled with the colours of the ancient House Targaryen again.

"Are you ready?" Jon's voice distracted her from her reverie.

"As ready as I will ever be," she smiled.

* * *

The Throne Room was already packed with people when they stepped inside. There were representatives of the Houses that somehow survived the succession of foolish, bloody wars that tore Westeros apart, but the smallfolk was there as well, as were the Dothraki and the Unsullied that lined the walls.

Dany was resplendent in the rich satin gown that barely concealed the swell of her belly. All insecurities forgotten, she held her chin high, a smile that shone as bright as the sun illuminating her beautiful face.

Even as there had been unsavoury rumours that deemed him the true heir to the Throne ever since his parentage became known, Jon knew the truth. He could see it in her strength, in her kindness, in the depth of those breathtaking violet eyes.

If there was anyone that deserved to rule over this scarred, wounded country, it was her. He still felt unworthy to be at her side, the familiar old nagging voice in his head reminding him that even though he was born a Prince, he had grown up as a bastard, and that was all he really was.

Jon's lips turned slightly upwards, thinking how it went the first and last time he had let those thoughts be known to her.

"You foolish man," she had bristled even as she cupped his face with the gentlest of holds. "You blind man, not to see what I see."

She had loved him so intensely that night, hellbent on filling whatever void was left in his heart with _her_, and with love, and with that sense of belonging that only seemed to come when she was close to him.

"You'll be a King," she had whispered to him as they lied naked and wrapped in each other's arms. "Because I choose you. Because the people have already chosen you. Because everything would have been lost without you."

"Not because I'm a Targaryen?" he teased.

"No, not because of that. You earned all of that when the whole world still believed you to be a Snow, didn't you?" she had smiled at him.

He straightened his back at the sweet memory, trying to look the part as his wife silently beckoned him to stand beside her, grasping her warm hand before they both had to kneel.

With the Faith still weak since Cersei's destruction of the Sept of Baelor, the Grand Maester had come from the Citadel to crown them, to represent a will of unity between the Maesters and the Crown.

The old man stepped closer to their crouched forms, the long chains at his neck clinking as he moved.

"I now proclaim Daenerys of the House Targaryen, First of Her Name, Queen of the Andals, the Rhoynar and the First Men, Lady of the Seven Kingdoms, Protector of the Realm, Queen of Meereen, Khaleesi of the Great Grass Sea, the Unburnt, the Breaker of Chains, and Hero of the Dawn."

Those old, wrinkled hands posed a silver crown on her brow, intricately carved and modelled after what Daenerys remembered of her mother's crown, he knew. Dany bowed her head slightly, then her eyes opened again, filled with the pride and determination that always burned in her heart.

The sight of those eyes almost distracted Jon from the fact that he was about to be crowned, too.

The Grand Maester stepped in front of him, holding a different crown in his hands, dragons and direwolves carved in the precious material, shiny red rubies making for the eyes of the mythic beasts.

"I now proclaim Jon of the House Targaryen, First of His Name, King of the Andals, the Rhoynar and the First Men, Lord of the Seven Kingdoms, Protector of the Realm, the White Wolf, and Hero of the Dawn."

The weight of the crown felt foreign on his brow, a tad uncomfortable, but not as much as he had imagined it to be.

"May their dynasty rule for a thousand years!"

"Long may they reign!" the crowd roared, accompanying their ascent with joyous cheers.

Jon gulped, taking in the sight of the Throne Room exulting, until he felt a slight tug at his hand, and turned to see his wife, his Queen, smiling at him. Following her, he stepped back to the newly-made twin thrones that stood where that monstrosity of iron used to be. These two thrones were much smaller, made of white smooth wood finely carved to tell the story of the Battle of the Dawn, dragons and armies of men and those otherworldly eerie skeletons. It was meant to remind all of the reason why the Seven Kingdoms had stood together once again, despite their enmities.

Dany's hand never left his own, as they patiently listened to all the Lords and Ladies who had come to offer their fealty anew, to the declarations of friendship of those who had come from across the Narrow Sea, to the awed admiration of the smallfolk who had been granted the permission to speak amidst all of the highborn people that filled the hall.

She grasped his hand tightly, moving it to rest on her swollen belly, the tears almost threatening to spill from his eyes at the reminder of what they had fought for.

_Together_, he had promised her time and time again, the only vow he never broke, that and the one to always be the shield that guards the realms of men.

_Together_, kicked their child in her belly, feet pressing against their father's hand.

_Together_, she had promised him a long time ago, and now here they were, united, the burden of ruling much less heavy when they were side by side.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! If you liked this fic, please leave a comment! Your love and support are what helps me transform my spite for D&D into creativity fuel.
> 
> Now and always, fuck canon.


End file.
